Match-box



(No Model.)

0. OFFR ELL.

MATCH BOX.

N0. 371,621. Patented Oct. 18, 1887.

Q6 cit/1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLOF OFFRELL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

MATCH-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,621, dated October 18, 1887.

Application filed October 8, 1885. Serial No. 179,316. (No motlelo To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLOF OFFRELL, a subject of the King of Sweden, residing in Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Match-Boxes, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, where- Figure 1 is a side view of one form of my improved match-box. Fig. 2 is a view of the front edge of the same. Fig. 3 is a view in central cross-section through the box on plane denoted by line a: :v of Fig. l.

The object of my invention is to provide a box that shall be a safe and convenient receptacle for matches, and at the same time afford means for removing matches one by one from the box without the necessity of opening the cover of the box and without danger of igniting the matches, and also in providing a simple and convenient 'oover for such boxes, that is easy of operation and will not wear and accidentally drop open and spill the matches; and to this end my improvement consists in a box having a cover closing the end, and by the removal of which matches are stored in the box, and along one edge a slit or opening through 'which individual matches may be readily removed, this slit or opening, in its normal condition, being narrower than the least thickness of a match, except at the ends and center of the slit, which is cut away, for purposes hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes a pocket match-box as a whole; I), the back wall; 0, the side walls; (1, the cover; 0, the outlet, which consists of a narrow slit along one edge of the box; and f, the finger-hole, formed by cutting away the sides of the box, so as to permit the thumb and finger of the user to grasp a match that lies close to the edge of the box.

The boxes may be formed of any desirable material that is more or less elastic, as metal, hard rubber, celluloid, or the like, and in the form shown the back wall, D, forms a spring for the cover (I, that is pivoted to the sides of the box and opens outward, turning on the pivot near the back spring, the corner of the cover that moves against the back spring being substantially rectangular.

This box may be provided with a cover on one or both ends,or the above form of cover may be used, the back wall forming a spring for both covers; and one or both of the sides may evidently be made elastic or outwardly yielding, as it is only necessary that the slit 6 may be widened by the yielding of one or both sides when the match is pulled toward the slit from the inner side. In order to assist this yielding of the sides of the opening or slit,the sides of the box-on the inside at least-are curved or sloped toward the opening, as shown in the sectional view in Fig. 3.

As the lighting end of the match is usually larger than the body, the end of the slit is preferably cut away or widened, as at e, to allow the match to be removed from the box more readily.

I am aware that it is not new to make a match-box with a slit in one edge to permit the matches to be taken out one by one, as such boxes are shown in patents to Keebler, No. 247,765, and to Robertson, No. 166,480, and such I do not broadly claim.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a match-box, the combination of the spring side walls, a, separated at their front edges and provided with the finger-openingf and end enlargements, e e, aback, b, secured to the rear edges and forming a spring for the cover (Z, and said cover d,pivoted to said sides, substantially as shown and described.

2. In amatch-box, the combination of the back I), rigid with the bottom wall and forming a spring for the cover, the spring side walls, a, secured at one edge to the edges of the back, the cover d, pivoted between the side walls and held closed by the back wall, and the outletslit 6 between the spring side walls, the said slit being provided with a finger-opening, f, and end enlargements, e e, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

OLOF OFFRELL; \Vitnesses CHAS. L. BURDETT, H. R. WILLIAMs. 

